The Government has introduced changes to simplify the end-of-year tax processes.

The changes came into effect 1 April 2019 and are in place for the year end processes for the current tax year (1 April 2018 ‒ 31 March 2019).

Income tax assessments for end-of-year tax

We’ll send you an income tax assessment to finalise your end-of-year tax information if your only income is from:

employment (such as salary and wages)

schedular payments (including ACC attendant care)

income tested benefits

interest or dividends

taxable Māori authority distributions

benefits under an employee share scheme

New Zealand superannuation (NZ Super)

student allowance

Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)

If you receive NZ Superannuation, this is taxable income and tax is deducted on your behalf. From this year onward, you will receive an income tax assessment, showing you how much income you have received from NZ Superannuation and how much tax has already been deducted.

Using your employer and investment information, your income tax assessment will show:

how much tax you paid in 2018-2019

how we calculated your assessment using information from your employer and investment provider (such as bank or fund manager)

how much income you earned, and

if you are due a refund, have tax to pay, or have no tax to pay and are not due a refund.

If you have any tax to pay, the assessment will include payment instructions. You'll have until February 2020 to pay, a range of payment options are available depending on your circumstances. If you have a tax agent or a non-standard balance date, these dates may be different.

The assessment will not include any information about previous tax years.

If you think the information from your employer or investment provider is incorrect or if you’d like to submit more information, you can do this through myIR Secure Online Services or by phone.

If you're owed a refund

Now you can find out if you’re owed a refund through automatic tax refunds.

You’ll no longer need to request a personal tax summary (PTS), use a tax refunds company or a tax agent to see if you're due a tax refund.

From 20 May until the end of July we'll let you know how much you earned and how much tax you paid for the year ending 31 March 2019.

Note: we no longer issue personal tax summaries (PTS) for the 2019 and future income years. For previous years, you can request a PTS through myIR to find out if you’re owed a refund.

If you paid too much tax

If you're due a refund, it’ll be paid directly into your bank account.

Note: Make sure that your bank account details are up-to-date because we'll no longer issue refunds by cheque except in exceptional circumstances. You can check this in your myIR account.

If you have not paid enough tax

We'll let you know how much you owe and by when you'll need to pay it.

In general, you'll have until February of the following calendar year to pay any tax owing. If you have a tax agent or a non-standard balance date, these dates may be different.

There continues to be a range of payment options available, including payment plans.

If you have another source of income

You'll need to file an income tax return (IR3) if you have income from such as:

self-employment

overseas

rental property including Airbnb and Bookabach

'under the table' cash jobs

an estate, trust or partnership.

Even though this process is not changing, we're making it easier for you to do your tax return online. This includes pre-populating any salary, wage and investment income, which already has tax deducted, on your income summary and on your return.

If you're self-employed or do your own tax return (IR3)

The changes do not apply to you. You'll process your tax return as usual.

You should notice that income that already has tax deducted will now pre-populate to make filing easier.

If you have an accountant or tax agent, they will continue to work with you to process your tax return.

Appropriate employee tax code notification

If you’re on an inappropriate tax code, you may end up paying too much or too little tax.

Employers and investment income payers are providing us with better information on investment interest and taxes paid on your behalf. We will notify you or your employer if you seem to be on an inappropriate tax code for your circumstances.

Certificate of Exemptions, tailored tax codes and tax rates are now available online through myIR to improve how you manage: